Multiple Sunken Treasure Thefts Solved

Zhangpu County， located on the southeast coast of Fujian Province， has a long history and rich cultural heritage. With a total sea area of 3，560 square kilometers，a coastline 167 kilometers long，nine large bays， 18 seaports with connections to Hong Kong and Macao， and 101 islands; Zhangpu truly can be called an ocean county.

Since ancient times， the development of Zhangpu has been closely related to the ocean. As early as the Song and Yuan dynasties， sea routes starting from Fujian were extended in all directions to the wider world and were important channels for foreign trade in ancient China. As an important stop along the "Maritime Silk Road"， Zhangpu witnessed bustling trade at its ports and busy sea lanes off its coast. Sailing through the Zhangpu waters， many ancient merchant ships full of Chinese porcelain and silk products traveled to Southeast Asia， the Middle East， and beyond.

In those times， because of unpredictable weather， sea conditions， coral reefs， and even faulty ships， many ancient merchant vessels met an unfortunate end on the waters around Zhangpu and sunk to the seabed. There， these ships became sunken treasure， and also cultural heritage hidden underwater. These shipwrecks are precious cultural relics left by our ancestors during their life and work activities， with invaluable economic and historical significance. However， these sunken treasures and underwater cultural relics are also coveted by criminals.

On the night of November 23， 2020， at around 1 a.m.， most residents in Liuao Town in Zhangpu County had gone to bed， and the area was still and quiet but for the occasional bark of a dog. In the night， police from a special task force of the Fujian Public Security Bureau arrested six suspects who had been staying in the Huadu Hotel in town. Later， investigators found two boxes full of cultural relics in the suspects' vehicle， together with diving suits and other special equipment.

The arrest was made as part of an operation called the Zhangzhou "11.23" Investigation， a case related to a series of salvages and thefts of cultural relics from ancient shipwrecks. The Fujian Public Security Bureau was committed to solving this case， and its progress was supervised by the Ministry of Public Security. With the development of the investigation and the identification of suspects， different agencies from the Fujian Public Security Bureau made arrests the same day： A total of 19 suspects were apprehended and 846 pieces of porcelain recovered. Based on the evaluation and assessment of the Department for the Protection of Cultural Relics， all of the 846 pieces were determined to be cultural relics fired in the Longquan kilns during the Yuan dynasty. Among them， 76 pieces are determined to be  Third Class Relics or above.

According to Lu Lianse， a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Zhangpu County Public Security Bureau， these organized criminal groups were normally formed by a combination of business investors and experienced divers， and were engaged in the salvage and theft of cultural relics from ancient shipwrecks. These criminals made an agreement among themselves on the proportion of their investment contributions and the distribution of the profits after the sale of stolen items. They conducted several salvage operations in Zhangpu waters and managed to obtain many cultural relics illegally. They later resold them to buyers in Jiangxi Province and other parts of China. In fact， the Criminal Investigation Division of the Fujian Provincial Public Security Department had obtained important information about this case as early as September 2020. They learned that there were some porcelain bowls on the market which appeared to have been salvaged from shipwrecks. Pictures of the bowls were assessed by officials from the cultural relics administrative agencies， and the preliminary judgment was that they were in sound condition， originally from the Song and Yuan dynasties， and bore a strong resemblance to those previously salvaged from ancient shipwrecks.

This discovery attracted the close attention of the public security agencies in Fujian Province， Zhangzhou City， and the local Zhangpu County respectively. On October 10， 2020， the public security agencies in Zhangzhou City and Zhangpu County immediately set up a special task force， joined by officers from multiple police departments， to carry out the investigation. After the forensic research and suspect identification process， investigators determined that Wei xx Chao， Wu xx Hua， and a suspect surnamed Luo xx from Guangxi Province; and Li xx Xing， Li xx Ming and Li xx Chun from Pingtan County of Fujian Province were suspects. They also suspected Zheng xx Cheng， a native of Liu'ao Town in Hangpu County， of having participated in the crimes.

The task force followed these leads and learned that some time earlier Wei xx Chao had contacted a man with a Hunan accent on November 17， 2020. Wei told the man that he would go to Zhangpu County to do some salvage work for some ancient Chinese porcelain articles there. The next day， Wei and two unidentified men checked into the Huadu Hotel in Liu'ao Town of Zhangpu County. After carefully analyzing the situation， the police task force was certain that these criminal suspects were preparing for the theft of submerged cultural relics. After three days and three nights of intense and uninterrupted surveillance， the task force made the initial judgement that the seven main criminal suspects were  to steal the cultural relics in the near future.